Essence Fall

"When did it get so bright? It can't be dawn already."
Koijea ignored him to focus on the small lights in the sky. What he thought were a spattering of stars had been growing steadily closer. Aalto followed his gaze and opened his mouth in surprise. Small flecks of light were floating down like drunk fireflies, drifting lazily on the wind.
"We need to leave, now. Quickly." Koijea grabbed Aalto's arm and began to push quickly through the crowd, drawing some irate glares and unfriendly words. He didn't care. He knew what was coming.
"We just got here!" Aalto scowled and wrenched his arm loose. Koijea turned to grab for him again, but Aalto had cupped his hands to catch one of the floating lights as they finally began to reach the crowds.
"Don't touch it!" Koijea barked.
Aalto looked at him in confusion before the little light touched his palm and let out an ear-splitting POP as it flashed pure white light. Aalto let out a yelp of surprised pain, jerking his hands against his chest, his momentarily blinded eyes squeezed shut. "Koijea?!"
Koijea had been smart enough to close his eyes and turn his head away. He grabbed Aalto and hauled him up like a child into his arms before bolting off into the crowd. Loud pops and flashes of light began to occur around them, and within moments the settlement had become a frantic mob of screaming and confusion.
"What's happening?!" Aalto gasped, clutching Koijea's shoulders gingerly. His palms were badly singed.
"It's an essence fall," Koijea growled.

Manifestation

Essence falls are massive storms of elemental energy being released to areas that have unbalanced elements. If one element is too powerful, the opposing element will become an essence fall in order to balance the area out. These can manifest as a number of different ways; they vary depending on elemental energy, and severity depends on how large and unbalanced the area is. The storms are considered incredibly dangerous, as even at their most mild they can reach weather extremes. The majority of essence falls have an active state of only 10-30 minutes, though their effects can be felt through the devastation they cause long after they've ended. Essence falls are thankfully relatively rare, as Essenci tend to be quite sensitive to elemental energy and can sense when it is getting too unbalanced.

Lightning Fall

This essence fall manifests as a massive lightning storm when the water element is too prominent. Hundreds of bolts can hit a ten mile wide area in a single minute. At it's worst, a lightning fall can completely decimate an area, leaving it seared and dead. The area is often described as being high in static, leaving a metallic taste in one's mouth, and smelling of ozone before it's hit.

Fire Fall

Occurs as balls of fire that fall from the sky when the ice element is too concentrated. They fall abruptly and range in size from a few inches to the size of a building depending on the imbalance severity. Before a fire fall an area will become hotter than usual, smell of burning wood, and ash will begin to fall from the sky.

Water Fall

Manifests as a downpour or a tsunami depending on location when the lightning element is too strong. Downpours can be as heavy as a monsoon or so heavy that it's difficult to breathe outside. Intense flooding is normal. Tsunamis will come to any area on the coast, and can range from 30 feet to over 300. Before a water fall, it will often start raining lightly, and the humidity will rise abruptly. In the case of a tsunami, the ocean will begin pulling back rapidly.

Ground Fall

This fall occurs when the air element is too concentrated and manifests as plants growing rapidly up from the ground along with a massive duststorm. This is the only essence fall that manifests as something that doesn't fall from the sky. At its least destructive, a ground fall will include the entire area suddenly becoming covered in grasses and flowers, and large vines sprout from the ground, splitting buildings, roads, and anything else in their way to twist around the nearest object and grow upwards. The accompanying dust storm will layer the entire area with deposits of fresh dirt, where the grass spreads quickly. Within minutes an area can be covered in vines and grass. At its worst, a ground fall can lead to massive trees and vines growing forth and the area's air being choked by the duststorm. An entire city will become a forest in moments. Just before this happens, people will experience smells of sweet grass, fertile dirt, and flowers, and may exhibit bad allergy symptoms.

Air Fall

Occurs as shrieking winds when the ground element is too prominent. An air fall happens very suddenly, with winds powerful enough to rip trees and smaller buildings up out of the ground. At its worst, this essence fall can root up an entire city and turn the area into smooth land in a matter of minutes. Before an air fall, there is a strong breeze and a massive drop in humidity.

Ice Fall

Manifests as large chunks of ice falling from the sky when the fire element is too concentrated. The sizes of the ice chunks range from six inches to twelve feet in diameter. Frost spreads from the ice after they've landed. Before an ice fall, the temperature drops dramatically, and an aurora borealis will appear above the area.

Light Fall

This essence fall happens when the dark element is too strong, and manifests as floating balls of light that explode into flashes of searing light upon touchdown. These lights range from an inch or so in diameter to eight inches. Upon touching down on any surface, the lights will expand rapidly, flashing light so intense that it can burn through cloth and skin as well as causing temporary or permanent blindness and deafness. The area begins to lighten as if the sun has risen before the light fall hits, even in the dead of night.

Dark Fall

A dark fall is the least destructive of all the essence falls, and occurs when the light element is too concentrated. Clouds will gather over the area, shadowing it deeply, dropping wisps of shadows onto the ground where it gathers like fog. After a few minutes, the area will be plunged into complete darkness, and the light will slowly fade back in the further one gets from the epicenter.

Localization

Essence falls happen only where there is a large population of Essenci of the same elemental alignment. Every Essenci lets off an elemental energy, but in large populations these energy levels can cause an essence fall if not properly balanced. In order to counteract an imbalance of elemental energy, the planet's weather shifts to drop the opposing elemental energy onto the area. Essenci populations are largely carefully controlled and balanced because of this.

Type

Natural